4 minutes under pressure to make a phenomenal, authentic Masala Chai in your Instant Pot. If you're looking for an authentic Chai recipe, rather than a Westernized version of it, this is the one. Adjust the spices and choice of milk to fit your dietary needs.
What Makes This Instant Pot Masala Chai So Great?
- Fast. Enough Masala Chai to last all day, made in less than 30 minutes.
- Easy. Steam your tea inside of your Instant Pot with little fuss.
- Authentic. This is the American version of Masala Chai. This is a traditional Indian version.
- Low Carb. This isn't extremely low carb, but it will help hold off the hunger so you can go longer between eating your next low carb meal. Only 6 net grams of carbs per serving and worth every single carb.
- Vegan. Use coconut or any other non-dairy milk to make this a Vegan Masala Chai recipe.
What Is Masala Chai?
All right. This isn't Starbucks Masala Chai. This is what we Indians would call Kadak Chai, which means strong tea. We drink cups and cups of this tea all day long.
It doesn't typically have a fruity, spicy flavor as the predominant flavor. It tastes mostly of tea, with a back flavor of spices. I'd suggest you try it this way first, and then adjust to your desired level of fruitiness by increasing the savory spices.
But if you want Kadak Chai, then this Instant Pot Masala Chai will work for you. Below is the spices I used to make two cups of tea.
What's The Advantage Of Making It In The Instant Pot?
Primarily that you won't burn the milk, and you won't have to babysit it. Mix everything, throw it into the Instant Pot, and walk away.
What Is The Difference Between Chai And Masala Chai?
Chai is simply black tea with milk.
Chai Masala is a blend of black tea with milk and spices.
What Is Masala Chai Made Of?
How To Make Instant Pot Masala Chai
- Place all ingredients In a heat-safe container, preferably one with a spout to ease pouring. Cover the container with foil
- In the inner liner of your Instant Pot, place two cups of water, and a trivet. Place the foil-covered pot on the trivet.
- Cook on High Pressure for 4 minutes, and allow the pressure to release naturally for 5 minutes. Release remaining pressure.
- Strain into two cups and serve.
How To Make Stove Top Masala Chai
- Place all ingredients in a saucepan at the same time.
- Heat until it's boiling and then turn to a low simmer for 5 minutes, stirring to keep the milk from overflowing.
- Turn off the heat, stir, and cover.
- Let rest for 5 minutes and when the leaves have settled to the bottom, it is ready to drink.
- Strain spices, and serve.
Want To Make A Chai Concentrate?
If you want to make something you can store in the refrigerator and serve later, use the Instant Pot Iced Tea recipe of mine but include the spices listed in this recipe.
Simply add cold milk before serving and you'll have Masala Chai in a flash.
Tips And Tricks For Making Masala Chai
- Is it possible to make it directly in the inner pot? If you do, you're heating the milk directly rather than via steam heat and you run a good chance of the milk separating when cooked directly in the liner. Separated milk is neither pretty or tasty. What does work? Make the tea without the milk. Just add water, sweetener, tea and the spices and let that steep. Then you can add milk as needed.
- If you like iced masala chai, I would follow this recipe for Instant Pot Iced tea, but add the spices listed here. When you are ready to serve your iced masala chai, just add cold milk or milk substitute. I would not store the chai with milk for any length of time as it does tend to spoil a little faster.
- Make this dairy free by using almond or coconut milk!
- Please don't say Chai Tea. Because Chai means tea. When you say Chai Tea, you're asking for Tea Tea, which is just not right. Please also don't say Chai Tea Latté. Any self-respecting Chai is a Latté. Just say Masala Chai and you'll be right on the money!
MORE RECIPES LIKE THIS
- Instant Pot Iced tea recipe
- Instant Pot Boba Tea recipe
- Mexican Hot Chocolate
- Lemongrass Tea
- Instant Pot Horchata
If you try this Instant Pot Masala Chai and love it as much as I do, make sure you share it with your friends on Facebook and Pinterest so they can enjoy it too.
Ingredients
- 2-3 (2) teabags
- 1.5 cups (375 g) Water
- 1/2 cup (122 g) Whole Milk, or non-dairy substitute
- 2 teaspoons (2 teaspoons) Splenda, or sugar adjust to taste
- 2 (2) Whole Cloves
- 3-4 sticks (3 sticks) Cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) fennel seeds
- 4 (4) Cardamom Pods
- 4 thin slices (4 thin slices) Ginger
Instructions
- Place all ingredients In a heat safe container, preferably one with a spout to ease pouring. Cover the container with foil
- In the inner liner of your Instant Pot, place two cups of water, and a trivet. Place the foil-covered pot on the trivet.
- Cook on High Pressure for 4 minutes, and allow the pressure to release naturally for 5 minutes. Release remaining pressure.
- Strain into two cups and serve.
Stove Top Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a saucepan at the same time.
- Heat until it's boiling and then turn to a low simmer for 5 minutes, stirring to keep the milk from overflowing.
- Turn off the heat, stir, and cover.
- Let rest for 5 minutes and when the leaves have settled to the bottom, it is ready to drink.
- Strain spices, and serve.
- What if you wanted to make more than just a few cups of chai at a time? Is it possible to make it directly in the inner pot? If you do, you're heating the milk directly rather than via steam heat and you run a good chance of the milk separating when cooked directly in the liner. Separated milk is neither pretty or tasty. What does work? Make the tea without the milk. Just add water, sweetener, tea and the spices and let that steep. Then you can add milk as needed.
- If you like iced masala chai, I would follow this recipe for Instant Pot Iced tea, but add the spices listed here. When you are ready to serve your iced masala chai, just add cold milk or milk substitute. I would not store the chai with milk for any length of time as it does tend to spoil a little faster.
- Make this dairy free by using almond or coconut milk!
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Nutrition
Originally Published June 24, 2017
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SG
Omg This was amazing
TD
Fantastic!
Kim Clark
The link to the authentic Indian Chai near the top of this post only links to a general recipe search. I’d love to use the more traditional recipe!
Adele
if you make a large quantity with water and later add milk, how much water do you use??
Roz
Hmm. I'm wondering what I did wrong. It ended up being really bitter. I used Costco cinnamon which are really large sticks. Perhaps that was it? I'm not sure if I can salvage it. I tried adding more milk but it was still bitter.
URVASHI PITRE
Oh no! It could definitely be too much cinnamon. But it sounds to me like your tea was too strong. Is thay possible? It so you may need more hot water to dilute it. Try it with a small cup to see if it helps.
Roz
I use pg tips, with the triangle teabags that can make it stronger And I used 3 teabags so it could be. It smelt fairly “medicinal” (like Chinese medicine medicinal, if you’ve ever smelt that!) so it may have been a combo of spices and tea. I’ll try it again another time!
Angana Shah
I just made this yesterday for the first time. I used a lot more ginger, and found I had to grate it (as we do when we make it on the stove) to taste the ginger in the finished product. Having made that adjustment, mom, the ultimate judge, declared it delicious. I made it for an event, put one batch in thermos and made another batch in the hall's kitchen, waiting there until we finished the first. So nice not to have to watch the pot to turn it off before it boils over, something I've been doing since I was a little girl.
URVASHI PITRE
That’s perfect! And anything that’s mom approved makes me happy 🙂
Jo
What exactly is 4 slices of ginger?
URVASHI PITRE
So find fresh ginger root. Hack of a few thin slices and throw them in. Chai-making is a less-than-exact science but it still tastes good 🙂
Mariam
Hi. Can you suggest a heat safe pot for this? I am in Canada. I have a 6 qt and would like to make 4 cups at a time. Thank you.